It was a pleasure to hear your tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart, and I was especially gratified that you recognized an important distinction: however talented Stewart may have been as an actor, the great Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character commanding a fictional starship in a fictional universe. Behind his wisdom, judgment, and memorable words were real writers, and I believe they deserve much of the credit for creating the character we admire.

As you mentioned, the original *Star Trek* was somewhat cartoonish, although it certainly didn't seem that way to me back in 1966. Watching the reruns decades later, I've come to recognize that Captain Kirk had plenty of flaws, as did the writers who created his adventures.

My own father was very much present in my life, and he was a pretty good father, especially considering that he had grown up without one himself. He could be gruff and overly critical - sometimes considerably more than a little - but on balance, his influence on me was positive. His morals weren't perfect, but growing up in the 1960s, I can't think of anyone else, even a fictional one, I would have wanted as a surrogate role model.


I grew up in troubled times without cute fantasies to gloss it over. My own serious test of character came during the Vietnam War. At the time, the killing of innocent civilians by American military forces, whether through aerial machine-gun fire or bombardment, was a disturbing reality of the war. I still don't know quite what my father was thinking when he encouraged me to attend the Air Force Academy (other than avoiding an expensive college education--because he was always one to stand up for the little guy). But after seeing training films documenting such slaughters, I knew that the Air Force, and the general lack of concern over war crimes, was not the place for me. The real-world "generals" of the past sixty years, that sit in comfy chairs, in fancy hotels eating gourmet meals, far behind the front lines don't earn my respect by simply saying, "Make it so!"

So, I tip my hat to the writers of *Star Trek: The Next Generation*. I only discovered the series in recent years. When it originally aired, I was far too busy being a father, running a business, and keeping clients happy to spend much time watching television.

What I now appreciate most about the series is the depth of thought behind its stories and the genuine willingness of its writers to confront difficult moral questions - questions that often have no simple or comfortable answers. Answers that frequently defy the "Prime Directive". Patrick Stewart brought extraordinary talent to those stories. However for me, it is the writers who gave Captain Picard the principles, dilemmas, and words that made him such a compelling, and sadly, fictional character.